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>> "Potatoes are clearly inedible in their raw state ...

>We have heard from a number of
>people who have eaten raw potatoes without difficulty ...
>
>...  the
>dangers can be reduced by means of a technology easily within the
>"sharp stick" level ... What are we to make of this?
>
>Todd Moody

That anything can be overanalyzed to death.

In their native areas, such as the high mountains of the Andes, poor
peasants grow many different types of potato.  They come in an
astounding variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, even black, mostly
quite small.  These are placed on the bare ground in the sun to
freeze-dry for eating until the next harvest is ready to eat.  There are
no trees at 14,000 and 16,000 feet in the Andes, so cooking fuel is very
precious and of poor quality (maybe straw or llama dung).

Houses are built of piled rocks, with straw, corrugated tin, canvas,
etc., as roofing since there are no timbers.

Since I have only looked at photos of these activities and interviewed
the hikers who took them, and not talked to the peasants myself, I do
not know how the potatoes are prepared, but I would guess that many of
them do not get extensive cooking before being eaten.  And there are
Amerind archeological remains in South America dating back at least
20,000 years.  So it seems plain that this staff of life is manageable
with a sharp stick.  It may not be the best possible food, but it has
kept an entire society of those "indios" alive for thousands of years.

Patty